BRANFORD >> A Branford man is being charged with multiple felonies after allegedly burglarizing a town home and fleeing on foot.

Authorities responded to a Windmill Hill home at 12:30 p.m. Thursday after a homeowner returned to her residence and found someone in her home, according to Capt. Geoffrey Morgan, spokesman for the Branford Police Department.

The male intruder, who was identified as Michael Bianchi, 30, of E. Main Street, fled the premises toward Route 1, according to a news release. After arriving, officers secured the home and authorities called for the department’s K-9, Joker, and his handler, Officer Luigi Amasino.

Joker led authorities to a nearby motel, where officers began to check the establishment’s registry for room occupants. Sgt. Gregory Watrous, who supervised the investigation, said detectives and officers began to interview Bianchi, who authorities are familiar with, as a possible suspect.

Joker and Amasino retraced the track as part of the process to confirm that Bianchi was the suspect who led Joker from the home to the nearby motel, the release said.

“Based on the ‘positively hit’ by Joker and the interview with our officers, Bianchi was arrested and taken into custody,” Watrous said in the release.

Bianchi was charged with third-degree burglary and third-degree criminal mischief. He is being held on a $5,000 bond and will be arraigned in court Sept. 16.